Verse 15.16

द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च ।

क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥

15.16

Transliteration

dvāvimau puruṣau loke kṣaraścākṣara eva ca |

kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭastho'kṣara ucyate ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

Two Purushas there are in this world, the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are the perishable and the Kutastha the unchanging is called the imperishable.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

two
these
persons
in the world
the perishable
and
the imperishable
also
and

the perishable
all
beings
the unchanging
imperishable
is called

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

Krishna introduces a threefold teaching about the person (puruṣa). In the world there are two kinds: the perishable (kṣara), which includes all beings that change and pass away, and the imperishable (akṣara), described as kūṭastha, standing firm like an anvil. Interpreters have read the imperishable as the individual self, as unmanifest nature, or as the unchanging aspect of reality. The verse prepares for the next two, which name a third and highest person beyond both.